Thanks for stopping by. This is where I publish a lot of my features and thoughts on HF propagation, antennas and other ham radio topics. I write for a number of radio magazines, including the RSGB's RadCom and ARRL's QST. I am also chairman of the RSGB's Propagation Studies Committee and produce the weekly HF propagation report for GB2RS. When not playing radio I'm a professional journalist specialising in aerospace, science and technology and am also author of four RSGB books.

Thursday, 19 August 2010

The Western HF-10 multiband dipole

Latest News, 15-3-17: Fred is still making the antenna. He said: "Steve - I am still making the HF-10. I did stop for a while due to an illness. I don't sell them any more on Ebay. I can't keep up with demand. What I sell now comes through word of mouth. The price is £85 including special delivery."You can contact Fred via m0bzi@outlook.comThe Western HF-10 multiband dipole was born out of Fred Western M0BZI's attempts at working 80m from a small garden. His basic design starting point was the half size G5RV, to which he added inductors on each leg. Unhappy with the results, he then played around with the overall length and added a balun at the feedpoint.

The end result is the antenna as now supplied.

Specifications

The Western HF-10 is a 67 feet long dipole/doublet. It incorporates two loading coils placed towards the end of the legs and has a 15 foot 3 inch section of 450 Ohm windowed ribbon feeder to the centre feed point. At the end of the 450 Ohm feeder a ferrite rod balun is fitted for the transition to 50 Ohm coax. This appears to be wound as a 4:1 impedance transformer.

The build quality is excellent and all fittings are stainless steel. The balun housing is substantial and all crimped joints are very strong and designed so that they don't stress the antenna.

The antenna wire is Flexweave, which is both strong and easy to work with.

Installation

For the test I installed the antenna an an inverted V with the apex at about 30ft and the ends at about 10 feet.

Out of the box the antenna was found to be resonant at 3.7MHz.

Initial SWR tests were done using a 15ft length of RG58 coax to an MFJ analyser. Subsequently, a further 60ft of RG213 was added to bring the end into the shack. The subsequent SWR readings with the additional length of coax are shown in brackets.

SWR measured with MFJ 269 antenna analyser at end of 15ft RG58 coax (and at end of 60ft RG213 coax)

1.9MHz: 31 (10.8:1)

3.5MHz: 3.7:1 (5.5:1)

3.7MHz: 1.2:1 (1:1) resonant point

3.8MHz: 4.3:1 (3.9:1)

7.0MHz: 6.2:1(3.3:1)

7.1MHz: 6.2:1 (3.3:1)

10.1MHz: 6.1:1 (3.2:1)

14MHz: 2.5:1 (1.6:1)

18.1MHz: 4.8:1 (2.7:1)

21MHz: 4.6:1 (2.3:1)

24.9MHz: 3.6:1(2.3:1)

28MHz: 1.2:1 (1.2:1)

29MHz: 1.9:1 (1.4:1)

50MHz 1.7:1 (1.5:1) – actually resonant at 48.6MHz

As can be seen, the SWR appears to go down once the additional coax is added. This is normal and is due to losses in the coax. Out of the box the antenna is naturally resonant on 80m, 20m and 10m.

The internal ATU on my Icom 756Pro 3 was able to find a 1:1 match on all bands 80m – 6m quite easily. Fred had said that his Yaesu FC-902 was also able to match the antenna on 160m, but the SWR was outside of the tuning range of my internal ATU.

Nevertheless, my external ATU was used to find a match on 160m, despite the antenna's short length.

First impressions

The antenna was mounted away from the house and fed via a 10 turn coax choke balun. This, plus the antenna's own balun resulted in a very quiet installation from a noise point of view.

With today's electrically noisy urban and suburban environments this was a breath of fresh air and made it that much easier to hear weak signals. The balanced design meant that there were NO detectable currents on the braid of the coax at all.

I had my doubts about the design of the antenna. It is very hard (if not impossible) to make a multi-band dipole that is coax fed and that will work on all bands. The Off Centre Fed Dipole (Windom or OCFD) is one design that gets close, but other designs (including the G5RV) fail to give a good match on all bands.

The problem is that they often display poor matches on many bands. The resultant poor SWR is often masked by coax losses on long runs, giving apparent better SWRs in the shack at the expense of losses in the coax caused by high SWR. This is why I did the initial SWR tests using a short length of coax.

Louis Varney G5RV himself also experimented with baluns at the open wire feeder/coax junction but abandoned the idea as the varying reactance at that point can lead to balun saturation and more losses/poor behaviour.

So I was interested to see how this model performed.

Performance

160m

I was able to tune the Western HF-10 on Top Band using an external ATU. The SWR is way too high for an internal ATU to match it on that band. Despite the antenna's short length I was able to work and hear UK stations, but signals were well down, typically around S5 compared with S9+10dB on my Windom (which itself is too short for Top Band). Nevertheless, if you only have room for a 67ft antenna it will let you experience the band. Noise levels were, once again, very low.

80m

The antenna's 80m performance was compared with an 85ft W3EDP and a 135ft home made OCFD (Windom) with a 4:1 balun, both with an apex at about 30 ft. I know exactly how these perform, having been using them in the RSGB's 80m Club Championship for three years. Best 80m DX on the OCFD has been VP8 Falkands and numerous US stations.

The antenna's noise level on 80m was found to be about three S points better than my existing antennas. This was because a) the Western HF-10 was situated further away from the house and b) it has an effective isolating balun.

The offset nature of my OCFD means that it is prone to picking up noise on the feeder, despite a choke balun.

Signals from around the UK and Europe were generally found to be equal to or 1-2 S points down when received on the Western. This was to be expected as the antenna is only half the length of the Windom. The lower noise level however made it easier to hear people.

These results were fairly consistent – the difference was always between 0 and 10dB down. This isn't as bad as it sounds – signals that were S9 +20db on 80m might become S9 + 5-10dB. It was only very weak signals that were marginal.

The low noise levels did make for easier listening though. I received a 59 +20db report from MJ0CTR in Jersey - what more could you ask for? At the time of testing (August) no 80m DX was heard.

40m (7MHz)

It was a similar story on 40m. EU signals were in general 1-2 S points down compared with the 136ft OCFD/85ft W3EDP, but lower noise levels made for easier listening. Some signals from DL were the same signal strength on all the antennas. Some were actually stronger on the Western.

30m (10MHz)

Again, lower noise was the order of the day. My OCFD is not really optimised for 30m and the Western outperformed it by up to 2 S points on CW around EU. A good antenna for this band.

20m (14MHz)

Signal strengths from Europe were roughly equal to the other antennas. This was apparent on many signals and was not a one-off. Some signals were stronger on the Western by up to 2 S points. Tests with stations in VO1 and VE9 on 14MHz showed the antenna outperformed my existing antennas. This was the case too with a short skip contact with Jon GM3JIJ on the Isle of Lewis. This antenna really shines on 20m.

17m (18MHz)

Signals were once again roughly equal to my OCFD, but sometimes up to 2 S points weaker than on a dedicated 17m dipole. Noise levels were once again better. Switching between the two you could see the effects of polarisation shifting in the ionosphere as one and then the other antenna became louder.

15m (21MHz)

My Windom does not really work on 21MHz. I normally switch to the W3EDP or use a 40m dipole. The Western outperformed both.

12m, 10m, 6m (21MHz, 24MHz, 28MHz and 50 MHz)

I managed to find a few Es signals on 10m a few days after I wrote the original text. They were all down about 2-3 S points on the Western compared with a dipole and the Windom.

General Coverage

I couldn't help but try the antenna out on the Broadcast Shortwave/Medium Wave bands. It was capable of picking up BBC Radio Wales from Washford in Somerset on 882kHz in daylight hours ( I live in Norfolk), although my other antennas were louder.

All of the stations I heard on the 7MHz, 9MHz, 11MHz, 15MHz were roughly all the same signal strength on both antennas. All India Radio on 6280kHz was down 20dB compared with my Windom.

Update: March 2014This review was written a couple of years ago. People have asked about the antenna's 60m (5MHz) performance. Although I didn't test it at the time the consensus from other people who have contacted me is that the antenna doesn't work well on this band.

Conclusions

I was very impressed with the Western HF-10. My first reaction was that it must be a bit of a compromise as it is only truly resonant on 80m. And yes, signal strengths were down a little overall. But the low noise characteristics of the antenna, and the fact that it could be persuaded to match on all bands 160 - 6m made it very usable.

On 20m the antenna matched or bettered my others in terms of performance, but with lower noise, which was a bonus.

You obviously trade off some performance on some bands compared with dedicated dipoles for each band, but this was never more than about 2 S points at worst (apart from Top Band). However, the low noise characteristics make up for this as I was often able to hear signals on the Western that were in the noise on my other antennas.

Given that these were also longer it shows how useful the Western HF-10 can be, especially if you do not have room for a full 80m antenna.

It also worked well on the shortwave broadcasts bands above about 4MHz.

For someone looking for an antenna that will fit in a small back garden, but will allow them to work all the HF bands, the Western HF-10 has a lot to offer.

I have purchased one as i was quite impressed, one by the review and two, it looks solid in design, and my garden is only 21metres in length, so wanted an all band wire, but for the size garden. I hope i have made a good choice :)thanks for the review very helpful indeed. I will be back to give you my results :)

Used to have a 66' longwire that would only tune on 20m and below,I have now installed the WESTON 10 and WOW what a diffrence tuned in to 80m with no probs at all,as said 2 S points down on the longwire but can hear the more quite stations.Situated @ 26ish'above the ground.I can safely say this is a very well made antenna and would defo recommend it, it's well worth a try.This is not the cheapest of antennas BUT by no way and no where near the most expensive.If you dont have the room for a full size G5RV then give this one a go.THANKS FRED

I am sorry but this statement confuses me a little - "As can be seen, the SWR appears to go down once the additional coax is added. This is normal and is due to losses in the coax."

My antenna theory is a little rusty but I am sure that if the SWR is altered by the length of the coax cable then the cable is acting as part of the antenna? Unless it is being used as a stub then the coax should not alter the SWR readings. And as stated it is RG213 that's got a loss figure of 1.5db at HF - surely that is not going to make such a difference to the SWR as shown in the charts about? As 7.1MHz: 6.2:1 (3.3:1) is quite a dramatic change in figures.

Can someone clarify those figures that coax length is important when using this antenna?

In a way we are both right. If you have a less than perfect match at the antenna the coax can act as an impedance transformer (unless it is an exact half wave or multiple thereof at the frequency of operation). Thus you may see a different SWR at the end of the cable.

Also, the SWR at the end of an infinite piece of 50 Ohm coax which is open circuit will still be 50 Ohm.

What you are probably seeing is a combination of both effects - a lower SWR due to the coax acting as an impedance transformer, plus a lower SWR due to losses.

You can soon check this as I did recently - I replaced a length of lossy Maplin RG58 coax with better quality length of Mini8 and the measured SWR of an antenna actually went up - same length and same coax impedance though.

The actual coax in use at the time of the test was about 60ft of RG213 and about 10m of this lossy RG58.

As this is a commercial antenna it wouldn't be fair for me to comment on the physical values of the components. Needless to say, a little time spent with the MMANA-GAL or EZ-NEC modelling programs would give you the answer you need. Then add a 1:1 or 4:1 balun at the bottom.

I have just purchased one of these Antenna's off of Fred and would like to thank you for highlighting this antenna and making its existence known via your blog. I would never have known about it otherwise and had been looking for a smallish multiband antenna that had quiet receive characteristics like a doublet.

The antenna is beautifully made and my first QSO has been with Jan Mayen land on 10m.

I would also like to thank you for the book Stealth Antennas that you have written. A great read and very helpful as a guide to aiding me choose an appropriate antenna for my location.

Apparently the answer is simple - Fred's email address is m0bzi@hotmail.co.uk in lower case. Putting the call in upper case causes it to bouce. i would not have thought it would make a difference, but there you go.

I have tried many times to get the Western HF-10 to work on the 60 metre band but it will not work. My local S9 signals using half size 5RV, are at the best S2 I find the whole HF-10 disappointing on all bands. Sorry for my findings, but this is the truth. G0TFM

Is the 450 ohm ladder part of the physical length or is it just matched stub I live in a high wind situation, find the windage pressure wrecks they ladder due to the weight of balmy hanging in free air about 6 metres above ground.what would the effect be of doubling ladder length to enable the balmy to be supported in a sheltered location?? They reasons I am contemplating some mods in favour of longer ladder or changing to 75 ohm twin feed is, in the space of 2 weeks I have had two breaks in the feeder due to the oscillation of the antennae.Another problem has been due condensation in the balun when making first transmissions of the day, the condensed water shorts the connector have cured by drilling a couple of small drain holes near connector point

I guess by "balmy" you mean " balun". The 450 Ohm ribbon is 4.648m long (15 foot 3 inches). I'm not sure what the inventor was trying to achieve with that as it doesn't appear to be a half wave on 20m as used in the G5RV. If anything it looks like a half wave at 10m. once adjusted for the velocity factor of the cable. I have no doubt you could get it to work with 75 ohm twin feed, but you might have to play with the length to get the SWR figures where you want them.

I have tried various configurations using this antenna and i cannot tune it using the internal atu of either my Yaesu FTDX1200 or 450D on 40m.No way no how. The SWR is sky high. No such problems on other bands, but as i tend to use 40m alot, this is very disappointing.

Hi, Yaesu internal ATUs are notorious for not being able to match loads more than an SWR of 3:1 - you'll see I measured the HF10 at 3.3:1. The answer would be to use an MFJ ATU extender, or use an external ATU. It might even be possible to add some inductance or capacitance into the feedline chain to bring the SWR down. To do this though you would need to know the R+/- jX of the load at 40m to work it out. You could experiment by adding a few turns of copper wire on a toroid and see if that helps or hinders. Another solution is to add some more coax to increase the losses and reduce the SWR. But an external ATU would be the quickest solution.

Brilliant antenna,i emailed Fred on 28/1/17 asking if he was still making & selling them on ebay,he replied to my email & said that due to recent health issues with his hands that he is no longer manufacturing them,great shame :(

Hi I had my HF Western 25ft centered and 10ft each end in a straight line,worked great but had to Use my Yaesu 950 internal ATU everytime I changed frequencies,I have now changed it same height as a V, now It doesn't need to be tuned it justs bleeps out when i try and tune it,hoping this is normal,any info would be great Thankyou and I must add it's a fantastic made piece of kit!

Yes very true...it isnt tuning it since I've changed to a V , have to get some more info on why...maybe coax length? Unlikely some say but I'll have to look further.I'll post in the near future see what the outcome was thanks

Both nyself and a friend bought the hf 10 recently and there is no doubt this antenna is using quality materials and well build but seems very difficult indeed to get a tune on 40m unless your running via an external atu .......ts990s wont look at it on 40m